Make sure the next PC you buy doesn't have BIOS. (It's obsolete according to this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11430069 )

novaderrik

2010-Oct-04, 04:16 AM

i remember about 10 years ago when i read an article somewhere that said that BIOS was going to become irrelevant as flash memory became cheaper and cheaper- the computer would automatically boot up in a couple of seconds to whatever it's last state was before getting powered down and all the basic operating parameters of the computer would also be saved on that flash memory.

Ara Pacis

2010-Oct-04, 04:55 AM

And what about memristors? Wasn't that supposed to revolutionize fast booting too?

The market will determine want happens as always, still waiting for the Windows killer OS.

inflector

2010-Oct-04, 07:15 PM

still waiting for the Windows killer OS.

Try this. (http://www.apple.com/iphone/software-update/) It will be a slow bleed death, but Windows has been dying for quite some time.

Squink

2010-Oct-04, 08:45 PM

i remember about 10 years ago when i read an article somewhere that said that BIOS was going to become irrelevant as flash memory became cheaper and cheaper- the computer would automatically boot up in a couple of seconds to whatever it's last state was before getting powered down and all the basic operating parameters of the computer would also be saved on that flash memory.Have you tried using an iPad?
The things are scary that way.

Grashtel

2010-Oct-04, 09:54 PM

Try this. (http://www.apple.com/iphone/software-update/) It will be a slow bleed death, but Windows has been dying for quite some time.
So how many desktop computers are there around running iPhone OS? Just because its out competing Windows in an area where Windows never had great penetration to begin with doesn't mean its winning anywhere else.

Also due to Apple's decision to keep them locked into iTunes its not possible to use an iDevice without having access to a desktop computer running windows or OSX preventing them from becoming an actual replacement for owning a desktop.

cjl

2010-Oct-04, 10:41 PM

People have been predicting the end of BIOS in favor of EFI for quite some time - honestly, I'm not worried. If there is a genuine alternative out there (and no, EFI is not a genuine alternative right now - it works fine, but the availability is nil and it still has problems), then I'll consider it, but as computer priorities go for my next system, whether or not it has a BIOS is honestly just about the last of my concerns. Oh, and in that article, it talks about BIOS taking up to 30 seconds prior to OS initilization? I've never had a computer that took that long, at least not in the past decade or so. Modern BIOSes take 3-5 seconds or so, unless you specifically set them to do a full system check on every startup.

cjl

2010-Oct-04, 10:46 PM

Try this. (http://www.apple.com/iphone/software-update/) It will be a slow bleed death, but Windows has been dying for quite some time.

Have you tried any version of windows since about 3.1? All of them support multitasking, which the iphone OS still doesn't have. They also support DirectX, again something the iphone OS lacks. Don't get me wrong - it's very, very good for the iphone/ipad. It's just not anything close to a usable main computer OS yet, and it was never designed to be.

dgavin

2010-Oct-05, 12:48 AM

still waiting for the Windows killer OS.

The next Killer OS will be built on a combination vocal regonition interfacting with an immersive 3D display, and back ended by a voice interfaced programming language (VIPL). Additionaly these types of OS's already beign designed for handicapped, can be attuned to the nerve impulses sent to the volcal cords, without actualy uittering a sound (which will be ideal for work environments also), by the wearing of a small neck collar.

All these iPhone, Smart Phones, google chrome and other similar architectures are not OS's. In the case of phone or pads,. they either .Net Compact, iOS (OS 10 compact) or Java Compact applications. The OS behind them is either Windows CE, Java/Solaris Compact edition, or OS 10 Compact edition (iOS 4).

Additaionaly apple is already shootign themselves in the foot by preventing developers from delivering Silverlight, Flash, or Full Java applications on thier iPhones. My particular phone can run both .Net Compact and Java based applications equally well and there doesn't appear to be any angst between Sun/Oracle and Microsoft over that.

So all those iPhones out there are nothign more then a trimmed down version of OS 10, with cool looking eye candy applications that make people think it's all freash and new. It isn't. Those phones are nothign more then a handheld Mac.

Jeff Root

2010-Oct-05, 05:30 AM

A handheld Mac??? Maybe I should look into getting an iPhone,
then. A handheld Mac sounds *way* more impressive than what
I thought they were!

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

Jeff Root

2010-Oct-05, 05:36 AM

cjl,

I'm going off topic aleady to ask a mundane question:
How can I tell if I use any DirectX functions? How can I tell
what DirectX functions are available? I have a Sapphire
Radeon HD 4850 video board, Ubuntu 9.10 32-bit (probably
will update soon), and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

dgavin

2010-Oct-05, 01:15 PM

cjl,

I'm going off topic aleady to ask a mundane question:
How can I tell if I use any DirectX functions? How can I tell
what DirectX functions are available? I have a Sapphire
Radeon HD 4850 video board, Ubuntu 9.10 32-bit (probably
will update soon), and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

Win 7 by defualt uses Direct X acceleration with the windows core. You actualy won't find a slider to turn hardware acceleration down or off. Basically windows uses DirectDraw and DirectDraw2D routines. The Icon's you see on desktop actualy get cached into the cards texture memory, mouse pointers, and other things like that.

A 4850 is a DX 11 compliant card, which means it has the latest and greatest techonoly (other then Phys X). The only thing it should not be able to handle is running in Phys X mode, even games like Mass Effect 2 that are Phys X, will run without that mode turned on.

If you are curious about what features are available on the card you would have to delve into the DX SDK in a developers mode, and ask the card to report on it's full feature set. DXdiag in run will show the basic features that are enabled.

dgavin

2010-Oct-05, 01:24 PM

A handheld Mac??? Maybe I should look into getting an iPhone,
then. A handheld Mac sounds *way* more impressive than what
I thought they were!

-- Jeff, in Minneapolis

You may want to look at a PocketMac if you want a real handheld Mac, it's what iPhones were based on, though they are less capable version of it. I suspect at some point handhelds and phones will merge to the point you could dock the phone in a station, and it would perform like a full PC or Mac. Thats probably about 5 years out though.

cjl

2010-Oct-05, 07:35 PM

Jeff,

Dgavin has it exactly right, except for the minor correction that the 4850 is DirectX 10.1 compatible, not 11. Windows Vista and 7 use DirectX for most of the desktop and general graphical interface, and if you play any games, the vast majority (though not all) are DirectX based.

Anything you run in Ubuntu is almost definitely not DirectX based on the other hand. Most graphics in Linux or OSX are handled by OpenGL instead.